Heartlines
by Carina487
Summary: When Lady Worthington made a deal with B.U.R two years ago she expected to be left alone, but now a new threat to preternaturals forces her to move back to London and confront her worst nightmares. My own characters situated in the world that Gail Carriger so perfectly created set in-between Heartless and Timeless.
1. Prologue

**A/N I do not own any of the characters, places or objects associated with the Parasol Protectorate Series these are all unfortunately owned by Gail Carriger. **

_Synopsis: When Lady Worthington made a deal with B.U.R two years ago she expected to be left alone, but now a new threat to preternaturals forces her to move back to London and confront her worst nightmares. My own characters situated in the world that Gail Carriger so perfectly created set in-between Heartless and Timeless. _

Prologue- Paris, 1877

I remember that night so well, people say that good memories stay with you forever, having never experienced a good memory I wouldn't know but that night is imprinted on my brain. It was a summer evening and I had been allowed the luxury of staying up late to enjoy the night air. In all of my six years I had never left the comfort of Fleetly House, I had never seen anything other than the wood panelling that covered nearly every wall in sight, nothing other than the roses that bloomed in the walled gardens, I realise now that I lived in a fantasy world, a world where death and pain did not exist yet how envious I am of my past self for I did not know then how soon despair would invade my life. It wasn't the loud voices that first alerted me to the presence of something sinister; in fact it was quite the opposite. The house fell gravely silent the only noise that dared to exist was that of the grandfather clock down the hall from my nursery. I crept towards my parent's room seeking comfort that I was imagining all of this, now I wish that I had remained in the safety of my nursery, enveloped in its blanket of toys and blissful unawareness.

When I reached the outside of the master suite the scratching noises become more pronounced and I bit back the urge to cry out in the darkness. My courage began to fade and I considered running back to the nursery when the door in which my fears lay behind swung open. The last thing I heard was my mother screaming my name until the world dissolved into darkness. Even now as I sit writing this in my journal the memory of that night still haunts me, the dreams that I suffer from have now returned and I fear that the monster that killed my parents has also returned for me. I can no longer cloak myself in darkness and I must emerge from the cocoon that I have so carefully built around myself here in Paris.

I must return to the life I used to life, the life of a hunter, the hunter.

**A/N I will be uploading some putting links at the bottom of chapters to pictures of the places and outfits etc. that have inspired me. Toodles and happy tea drinking. **


	2. BUR Business

**A/N I do not own any of the characters, places or objects associated with the Parasol Protectorate Series these are all unfortunately owned by Gail Carriger. **

Chapter One- BUR Business

To most ordinary office workers Monday usually begins with a groan and perhaps a well needed cup of tea; however BUR office workers are not your usual bunch of secretaries instead of a groan a growl is more likely to emanate from them and instead of just a cup of tea a pot will usually suffice. This particular Monday evening had the makings of a bad night for the Duke of Hampshire; first of all one of the new pups had ruined an 18th century chair in Huntley, second of all his beta had taken it upon himself to plan a ball to celebrate his alphas promotion and yet another preternatural had been murdered causing an emergency meeting to be arranged. The Duke sighed and then opened the door to the largest chamber the BUR headquarters had to offer, the room was lavishly decorated with velvets and silks but of course the room had to be redecorated every year, you never could tell when a fight would occur when some of the most powerful supernatural beings employed by BUR were placed in the same room as one another and by the looks of it an argument had already been started by the time the Duke arrived on time as always. In the middle of the crowd of barely civilised werewolves sat the Earl of Woolsey, looking thoroughly bored by what was occurring around him. Eventually one by one the others in the room realised that the man they had been waiting for had arrived and they scrambled to find a chair around the large oak table that dominated the room.

Just as the Duke opened his mouth to officially open the meeting the double doors at the far side of the room were flung open to reveal a very angry looking woman dressed all in black. The Earl of Woolsey leaned over the oak table as if to comment on this sudden appearance to the shocked Duke but then obviously decided that remaining silent was always the best action in a situation like this. "Would somebody please explain to me why I was not informed that this meeting was occurring tonight?" The Queen's voice echoed throughout the room and managed to drown out the dreadful noise two werewolves were making placing a plush chair at the centre of the room, presumably for the Queen to sit on during the meeting.

"It is 11pm on a Monday night, your majesty; we did not think that you would want to be bothered by such trivial matters at this time." The usually brash Earl of Woolsey spoke with a slight tremor in his voice, reflected the feelings of every man in the room at that precise moment. The Queen in the time that it had taken for one of the men to pluck up the courage to answer her had proceeded across the room almost silently and she was now situated comfortably in the plush chair, she made a small noise in acknowledgement of the Chief Sundowner's excuse and then moved her direct gaze onto the Duke.

"And what about you William, do you believe that this murder is as the Earl said and simply a 'trivial matter'?"

"I believe that we have overlooked the matter for too long, your majesty. This as you know is the fifth preternatural to be killed in this way in the past month, I fear that we must accept that these are no longer just random attacks." William Avery Huntley or the Duke of Hampshire had been a werewolf for almost two hundred and thirty years having been turned by accident whilst fighting in the English Civil War when he was only thirty years of age. After a nearly two hundred year stint of fighting in the supernatural division of the British army the Duke had defeated the alpha of the Hampshire pack and had recently been appointed the head of Department of Supernatural Beings. "In fact I believe that the killer, whoever they may be, is working their way systematically through countries and killing any female preternatural that happens to reside there. The first attack was in Egypt, the second in China, the third in Russia, the fourth in Venice and the most recent was carried out in Germany. Therefore we can assume the next attack will take place in France."

"Are there any female preternaturals that live in France?" The Queen's gaze remained on the Duke as if she was trying to stare him into submission.

"Yes one, your majesty." A young vampire from the other side of the room uttered. "Lady Worthington has lived in Paris for two years; perhaps she will be the new target." The vampire continued only to be cut off by a disgruntled Duke turning to direct a sharp look at the dandy.

"The same Lady Worthington that appealed to be released from her duties here at BUR two years ago? She is still a British citizen according to her official papers. William you are in charge of her is this correct?" All of the eyes in the room were once again trained on the Duke who had a disgusted look on his face.

"Yes, your majesty I believe that she lives in the 9th arrondissement of Paris." To be honest William knew exactly in which house the young preternatural lived, where she frequented and who she corresponded with. Ever since he had been assigned her case on the night that she had witnessed her parent's deaths twelve years ago, Lady Persephone Worthington or Alice as the Duke referred to her was an enigma to him. After being employed by BUR especially to deal with the problem of rogue vampires in London she had then turned around and begged to be allowed to move to Paris and live the remainder of her life in peace. A far cry from the vibrant life she led in London, then again after witnessing such an event at the age of six who could blame the young woman for wanting a quiet life.

"Does your wife still keep in touch with her Conall?" The Earl of Woolsey was married to Alexia Tarabotti who before the arrival of their daughter Prudence had been a constant annoyance to William. Alexia being somewhat older than Persephone had been a role model to her and the pair were great friends.

"I believe that Alexia does still write to Lady Worthington regularly." The Earl shot an apologetic look towards William as if he knew what Queen Victoria's next demand would be before she had even thought of it.

"William I want you to go to Paris immediately and fetch Lady Worthington back here to London where she will be under the protection of BUR." After floundering for a moment the Duke regained the use of his vocal cords.

"I actually don't think that I can go to Paris at this moment in time, your majesty. I'm very busy and you know that Alice, I mean Lady Worthington does not like me particularly and I believe she is more likely to listen to someone like Lord Pinkle." At that Lord Pinkle rose up from his chair feeding fangs at the ready and promptly began shouting abuse at the werewolf.

"No arguments William, you will be on a steamer to Calais within the next hour or I shall take back the promotion I so graciously bestowed on you! Am I clear?" The Queen's voice caused the arguing in the room to stop immediately.

"Yes, your majesty" And so the Duke of Hampshire who was nearly two hundred and thirty years old boarded a steam boat to Calais feeling a little bit like a schoolboy and with his tail firmly in between his legs.

**A/N Thank you.**


	3. Paris

**A/N I do not own any of the characters, places or objects associated with the Parasol Protectorate Series these are all unfortunately owned by Gail Carriger. **

I walked along the road that lead to my town house on the 9th arrondissement in Paris, I had lived here for two years now and I still had not settled into a routine. Perhaps this was because I was never meant to settle in one place for a prolonged amount of time or maybe Paris was so exciting a city that I could not bear to stop for a moments rest. If truth be told I _had_ been comfortable in Paris up until a week ago when I had begun having dreams about the night that my parents had died, I began to see their faces everywhere and heard my mother's shriek every time a bell chimed. I remembered that day two years ago when I had begged BUR to release me from my contract that I had foolishly signed in order to escape my fate of being murdered brutally in Russia. The price I paid for my freedom? I had to tell the man I perhaps despised most in this world the name of the vampire who had killed my parents, the name that I had sworn to keep in order to save my own life all of those years ago. Now the whole affair was coming back to haunt me, my mother always said that it was useless to run from one's destiny.

I reached the imposing front door of my town house and inserted the key into the creaking lock. That was when I noticed the eerie silence that reminded me all too well of that night sixteen years ago. I gripped the head of my parasol tighter hoping that a well-aimed hit would immobilise the attacker that I knew was hiding in the shadows of the marble entrance hall. I closed the door behind me and removed my shawl as I would normally, not wanting the assailant to become suspicious. Unfortunately I was not prepared enough for a hand to touch my shoulder, acting on impulse I grabbed the man's hand and swung him round then aimed a punch at his chin, I was about to whack him with my parasol when I heard the muffled cry of what sounded like 'Alice stop it!', there was only one person who called me Alice and I would have been happier to meet an assassin.

"William? I'd say I'm sorry for punching you but lying is frowned upon in polite society." I began walking towards the drawing room and pulled the rope that would alert my butler to my arrival. William or the Duke of Hampshire was the man who had extracted the name of the dangerous vampire from me two years ago, ever since he was assigned my case when I was six years old he had been annoying me and refused point blank to leave me well alone.

"What are you doing here? I thought that when I was released from my contract that I would be left alone." My butler chose this moment to appear at the doorway. "Stevens, would you fetch some tea please and perhaps some ice for the Duke's chin?" He nodded and went to complete my orders.

"Things have changed Alice, in the past month five preternaturals have been killed in exactly the same way and we have reason to believe that you are next." I narrowed my eyes at his words; I should have known that breaking my promise to that vampire would eventually lead to events such as these.

"I don't see why BUR is so concerned for my well-being now, or perhaps you're all just feeling guilty over what happened to my parents?" Stevens set the tray with the tea set down on the table between the two chairs that William and I occupied. On the way out of the room he flashed me a concerned look, I nodded and then turned my attentions to pouring tea.

"Of course not but I have been ordered by her majesty the Queen to escort you back to London where you will be put under the protection of BUR." He pressed the ice to his chin and winced slightly. I rolled my eyes heavenly and took a sip of my tea.

"Well I decline, if you would be so kind as to leave me alone here in Paris I would be much obliged." He removed the ice from his chin so that I could see that the small gash had in fact healed and the show with the ice was simply to make me feel remorse.

"I'm afraid that your opinion does not matter to the Queen, so you will be on a steamer with me at precisely 9 am tomorrow morning." I placed the tea cup back onto the tray and stood up, the movement startled the werewolf and I smirked knowing the effect I had on him.

"Now see here William…" He interrupted to growl out that it was 'your grace' not William but I carried on regardless. "William I will not be on that boat, I do not wish for your protection I can handle myself thank you very much." I grabbed onto the mantelpiece to try and occupy my hands so that I would not be tempted to do anything brash.

"Persephone I have reason to believe that these attacks are being carried out by…" I cut him off with an alarmed look in his direction.

"Don't say his name!" I moved to sit back down in the armchair suddenly feeling a little faint although I would never admit that weakness to William. There were a few minutes of silence where the only sound in the room was the clock that sat on the mantelpiece.

"Come back to England with me and I promise that if after two months nothing has occurred then you may return to your life here." I stood up again and walked over to the window that looked out over the busy street bathed in the light of gas lamps.

"I will return on one condition." I murmured still looking out of the window. "I wish to have a townhouse in London and I don't want to be dragged into any BUR business, at all." I rang for Stevens again and instructed him to pack up my belongings, maybe a few months in England _was_ what I needed to feel relaxed again.

**A/N Thank you :)**


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